Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Communications Stltv Pay Equity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Communications commissioners ask Board of Aldermen to address STLTV pay equity amid staffing shortfall
Summary
The Communications Division told the committee STLTV and regulatory work are underfunded for staffing, with production specialists starting at roughly $38,000; the division seeks pay adjustments to retain and recruit certified video professionals who operate city transparency channels and manage right‑of‑way telecom permits.
Donna Brooks Sanders, Communications Commissioner for St. Louis City, and STLTV producer Andre Holman told the Budget and Public Employees Committee that the Communications Division’s FY26 priorities center on pay equity for video production staff and stable funding for regulatory oversight of telecommunications work in the public right‑of‑way.
Brooks Sanders said the division operates STLTV (the city’s government channel) and related platforms, covering Board of Aldermen meetings, subcommittee hearings and department events, and that the unit oversees permits and contracts for telecommunications work in the city right‑of‑way, including so‑called “small cell” 5G attachments. “We operate the STLTV which is a 24 hour 7 day a week channel … we also have a small staff; we operate with a staff of about 13 full time employees and we have anywhere from 35 to 45 per performance employees,” Brooks Sanders said, describing the division’s broadcast and regulatory responsibilities.
Both Brooks Sanders and Holman said the practical problem is compensation for the full‑time video production specialists who shoot, edit and produce the city’s programming. Brooks Sanders said the starting salary for the full‑time video production classification is about $38,000 and argued that the work requires a degree and experienced technical skills that are competitive in the private sector. “The starting salary for these positions is only 38,000. They’re listed in our city’s classification as entry level positions. However, there is nothing entry level about the work or the requirements,” Brooks Sanders said. Holman added that many production staff take second jobs to supplement their city salaries and urged the administration and Department of Personnel to address pay and classification adjustments so the city can retain experienced staff.
Committee members including Aldermen cited STLTV’s role in government transparency and local civic engagement; several members voiced support for addressing personnel compensation. Alderman Velasquez recalled beginning her city employment interacting with STLTV and thanked the staff for the service. Committee members suggested personnel and administration conversations are the appropriate channels for pay‑rate changes and encouraged the Communications Division to work with Department of Personnel and the administration on vacancy‑based options for reallocation or salary adjustments.
Why it matters: STLTV provides gavel‑to‑gavel coverage of elected proceedings and a public record of government meetings; the Communications Division also manages permitting and inspection work for telecom attachments in the right‑of‑way. Officials said understaffing and low entry salaries threaten continuity of coverage, institutional memory and timely permit processing.
Committee directions: communications leadership said they will follow up with personnel and the administration and asked for Board of Aldermen support in those discussions. Members requested that the division continue to document vacancies and the compensation gap and to forward that information to the Department of Personnel and the administration for consideration in future compensation studies.
Ending: The committee members praised the division’s transparency work and signaled willingness to help carry the request to the administration, while clarifying that salary band adjustments require Department of Personnel and administration action rather than a direct committee appropriation.
